Web services are set to grow next year with 90% of European
developers and IT professionals saying they will develop services
in 2003, according to a survey of delegates planning to attend this
week's Microsoft TechEd conference in Barcelona.
More than 1,750 people, from 62 countries in Europe, the Middle
East and Africa answered the online survey during May and June,
Microsoft said.
Web services are software and data services shared, via XML,
between companies' Web servers. They are widely expected to replace
EDIs (Electronic Data Interchanges) between businesses and,
eventually, to create fully interconnected business operations.
More than half of survey respondents, 54%, said that their
organisations are currently developing Web services and 90% will do
so in 2003, Microsoft said.
Almost all of those already working on Web services, some 94%, said
that such services will open up new business opportunities, and 66%
said that Web services would help people understand the value that
technology brings to a business.
Web services are most popular within the banking industry, business
services and travel and transport markets, Microsoft said, with the
telecommunication and distribution industries close behind.
However, Gartner analyst Alan Macneela, sounded a note of caution.
"Mainstream adoption of Web services is four to five years out. In
the longer term, they will become an important part of the IT
landscape, but at the moment what's being done is fairly low
level."
While people are currently developing basic Web services, the
standards needed for security in integrated Web services are still
being developed, and those needed for full-scale business
relationship Web services will not be ready for some time, he
said.
In a small survey of his own, Macneela found few people admitting
to Web service development. "They didn't believe a lot of the
hype," he said. However, the difference between his own survey and
Microsoft's may lie in the respondents.
"Developers - the people going to Tech Ed - like new stuff and Web
services are sexy and interesting. Managers - the people I spoke to
- have to fund it. They may be giving developers projects to work
on but they're not planning large-scale development."
Macneela advised organisations to get started on Web service
development for low-risk business areas, to learn the skills and be
ready for future developments.